Are God and Jesus Christ One and the Same is one of the most difficult questions people pose to themselves. It can be hard to grasp how Jesus could possibly be both God and man simultaneously; after all, He is all-powerful and all-knowing while Jesus had physical needs such as eating, drinking and sleeping that have to be met in his existence.
Table of Contents
1. Jesus is God
Many view Jesus as an inspiring moral teacher or powerful prophet, while Christians consider Him God Himself. According to them, He came as God’s uniquely begotten son to redeem humanity of its sins and heal its sick. Throughout the New Testament He demonstrates this by performing miracles like healing sick people or performing miraculous cures while teaching about our relationship to Him and even proclaiming Himself Lord over all – an all-powerful figure who knows everything there is and one day will return as Judge over living and dead alike.
Jesus’ claim of divinity cannot be overemphasized, for His religious disciples wanted nothing less than for Him to be stoned for blasphemy (John 10:30). Yet He never denied his assertion and hence could call Himself Lord of All and forgive sins (Luke 24).
One way Jesus demonstrated He is God was by creating the universe. Additionally, He demonstrated all-powerfulness through creation (Mark 16:25), healing of diseases and even death (Mark 10:38) and spiritual powers over demons (Matthew 28:18). Furthermore, He is all-knowing and cannot be stopped by any adversary (Psalm 139:9) while remaining omnipresent throughout space and time (Psalm 139:9) as well as eternal (Revelation 1:8; John 1:18).
The Bible shows us that Jesus possessed two natures – divine and human – but these do not conflict with each other; He remains only one person, so whatever was true about His divinity also applied to his humanity (for example, all the fullness of God resided within his body; hence why He is known as “God in the flesh”) (1 Timothy 3:16). Meanwhile, both Father and Holy Spirit were also God, though neither incarnate themselves into Jesus.
2. Jesus is man
Jesus stands out as an individual whose life and death resemble that of any other man, yet we can also observe his miraculous signs and the immense popularity of his ministry as evidence that he was more than a mere moral teacher but also the Savior of mankind – thus making Him unique among other religious figures.
The Bible records that during His incarnation, Jesus took on human nature free of any stain or defect – yet still experiencing all the limitations associated with humanity’s sinful ways: hungering thirsting and growing tired as well as experiencing all human emotions.
Evident throughout His earthly life was Jesus Christ’s divinity as evidenced in healing miracles He performed, direct commands given to His disciples, and His references to Himself as God (John 14:11). Although Scripture never explicitly states it so it’s evident of Christ acting like God despite having human form, evidences of this were numerous – the healing miracles He performed, direct commands given by Jesus himself and references made about how one and the Father are one are among many examples that testified to this fact.
One of the great challenges of Christianity has always been reconciling Jesus’ two sides; eventually, this question was addressed at Chalcedon in 451 when it was decreed that He was made up of both natures (human and divine) at once without ever clashing into each other.
Jesus was a real human being, the perfect embodiment of fallen humanity. As our “last Adam”, He took on all the weaknesses inherent in human condition in order to reestablish fellowship between humanity and God. Though He represented humanity fully as its representative, in Himself He remained free from any sinfulness worthy of divine worship.
Some cults believe Jesus’s statements regarding not knowing the day or hour of His return as evidence against His divinity. Yet these groups fail to take into account that Jesus often spoke from both human and divine perspectives at once – as opposed to just one or the other! He never claimed knowing the exact date or hour for His return because this remains unknown and only God knows for certain when He returns again.
3. Jesus is the Son of God
The Bible teaches that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine – an idea central to Christian theology. Jesus is often seen as part of a Trinitarian doctrine as the third member, though nontrinitarian Christians accept this reference to Jesus in Scripture as well.
As opposed to Adam, angels, Israel or Paul who have all been considered “sons of God”, Jesus alone truly possesses God’s nature (Heb. 1:2). As such He fulfills His Father’s will on Earth (cf. John 5:36) – this makes Him unique as one towards whom redemption history has pointed from its inception.
Jesus is God’s unique Son because He alone has achieved all of the tasks necessary to prove this claim. These include creating all things (Genesis 1), upholding them by His power (Colossians 1:17), forgiving sins (1 Peter 3:21) and raising dead bodies from graves (John 11:43).
Gospel writers paid great care in their accounts of Jesus’ deity by showing that He is God’s son. Perhaps the best treatment of this theme comes in John 1:1 where it states: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” which proves Christ has always existed as his divine offspring.
Jesus alone rose from the dead (John 20:3) and now sits at God’s right hand (Matthew 28:18), having authority over all people both to save them from hell and give life (John 4:14; Romans 16:20) and judge all creation (Revelation 20:11-15). Thus it is essential for us to believe in his Sonship.
4. Jesus is the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit played an active part in creation (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 33:6), inspired the prophets with His words (2 Peter 1:21), and dwells within every believer today as an assurance that they will all be raised from death to live forever (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Bible is an accurate portrayal of this triune God as it always refers to Father, Son and Holy Spirit when using “God”.
Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit at His baptism, as recorded in Scriptures such as Mark 1:10-12. At that momentous event in history, Christ received all of God’s Spirit and became the messiah (anointed one) predicted centuries before.
The Gospels show us that Christ was guided and supported by the Holy Spirit throughout his ministry and life on Earth. He empowered Him to perform miracles and heal the sick, as well as sending Him on missions preaching and teaching God’s word. Furthermore, these same Gospels document how the Spirit stood beside Christ on His journey towards death for our sins on Calvary before rising again three days later and ascending into heaven – providing proof that it is an individual part of the Trinity.
Jesus Himself makes this clear when He declares that his Father will send the Helper (Holy Spirit) after He departs to speak about Him (John 14:25-26; 15:26-27). This further establishes the Holy Spirit as an individual within the Triune Godhead.
Critics who question whether or not the Holy Spirit is fully God often argue that it’s impossible for it to exist as both a Spirit and human at once, yet that misses the point of what the Bible teaches about Jesus: while He was God in human form, He also came down from heaven as man to live out a perfect human life here on Earth before suffering, dying, and rising again from death’s grave to sit at God’s right hand and gain power both here on Earth as well as all powers in Heaven and Earth!